Work starts on green bond criteria for low-carbon grids

June 29 (Renewables Now) - The Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI) has formed a new technical working group tasked with the development of criteria for green bond investment in low-carbon electricity transmission, distribution and storage infrastructure.

The aim of the criteria will be to help determine when grid infrastructure projects and assets are consistent with the Paris goal of keeping warming below 2 degrees C and are eligible to be certified under the Climate Bonds Standard.

The technical working group convenes experts from nine organisations, including universities, consultancies and multilateral banking institutions, the CBI said on Thursday. The process will take into account feedback from an industry working group made up of bond issuers from the electrical grids sector, investors, verifiers and other intermediaries. The criteria could be released for public consultation as early as October 2018. They will then be submitted to the independent Climate Bonds Standards Board for approval.

The CBI explained that to integrate renewables at a large scale, the existing transmission networks have to be updated and expanded, with additional distribution and storage infrastructure needed. It cited data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), according to which transforming the global grid system will require USD 9 trillion (EUR 7.7bn) in investment by 2050, which is double the sum under current and planned policies.